John Dudley: Patriots torment this region's 3 teams

In different ways, the Patriots have consistently tormented the Bills, Browns and Steelers — and their fans — during the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era.

By John Dudley john.dudley@timesnews.com

Mention Bill Belichick or Tom Brady in these parts, and you're likely in for a cold reception.

It goes beyond Deflate-gate, Spy-gate or any other -gate associated with the NFL's pre-eminent franchise.

It's more personal than that.

Around here, fans of the Steelers, Browns and Bills make up the vast majority of the NFL fan-scape, and if these three otherwise disparate franchises have nothing else in common, they have this — they've been consistently tormented by the Belichick-Brady pairing for more than a decade.

A generation of fans in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo and points in between has experienced heartaches of varying degrees, and for varying reasons, at the hands of the Patriots.

For the Browns, it's the constant reminder that Cleveland was Belichick's mostly unsuccessful first act, the place where his distaste for the media first took root but his skill in crafting championship teams from a handful of stars surrounded by castoffs and spare parts had not yet been fully honed.

Belichick led the Browns to the franchise's last playoff win, following the 1994 season, but that's anything but a warm and fuzzy memory for most Browns fans.

Football's sad-sack organization will, into perpetuity, be left to wonder what might have happened had things worked out differently, if somehow, despite Art Modell's seemingly inevitable decision to move the team to Baltimore in 1995, Belichick might have led the Browns to the promised land of Super Bowl appearances and Lombardi Trophies.

It's a slightly different dynamic in Buffalo, where Belichick never worked, except on those Sundays when he reminded the Bills what a coach with job security and a quarterback with effusive self-confidence can do for a franchise's trophy case.

The Bills have been chasing the Patriots with staggering futility since Belichick arrived in 2000. They've won only five of their 34 meetings since then, including losing streaks of five, six and 15 straight games.

In their stretch of 17 consecutive seasons without a playoff berth, the Bills have watched the Patriots reach the postseason 14 times, usually with Belichick and Brady, and win four Super Bowls.

And then there are the Steelers, who have never beaten Belichick and Brady when it matters most, in the postseason.

Who have lost to Brady twice and Belichick three times in AFC Championship Games.

Who, despite winning two Super Bowls during the Belichick-Brady era, will always be their second fiddle, managing to emerge as AFC champs only when the Patriots were upset early, or failed to make the playoffs altogether.

So while much of the football-watching public will tune into today's Super Bowl matchup to see if, once and for all, Brady is the best quarterback of all-time and Belichick is further confirmed as its best coach, folks around here will do a slow burn.

And count the days — or years — until the two men who have caused them such misery finally step aside, taking their cruel voodoo with them into retirement.

John Dudley can be reached at 870-1677 or john.dudley@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNdudley.